Are ergonomic handlebars more or less comfortable than the more traditional drop bar bend? It's interesting that many pros are swapping back to a classic shape - surely they wouldn't do that if ergonomic bars were more comfortable?

I have had both ergonomic bars and traditional shallow drop bars. I found that I cannot use traditional shallow drop bars as my hands are too big for the bends!
I have now got a set of shallow drop bars that need to find a new home!

I tried ergo and soon went back to round. Round lets you rest your hands in the "corner" of the bend (if thats not a contradiction of terms). The ergos tend to have a sloping flat section that you rest your hands "on".
also I found that with ergos, the sloping bit is further away from the brake levers, so you need a bigger hand. The apex of the curve on round ones are closer to the levers, so allow better reach on descents.

Cinelli 64's - best bars ever.

_________________A bicycle can't stand up on its own as it's two tyred

Personally, I reckon the fewer flat bits on a bar, the better. The best bars for long distances allow you to put your hands and wrists in lots of different positions. To me, "Ergonomic" bars are like a child's drawing of how a drop handlebar ought to look. But bear in mind I do lots of touring, and want to spend a lot of time in the saddle in comfort and with little effort. If you're a racer, wider, flatter bars might be better.
To my mind the best road bar design is the Randonneur.

Hi Ed
Of my two roadies I have ergo's on my Giant TCR and on my Merckx corsa extra I have traditional bars. Both are Cinelli's and 40cm c to c.
I have ridden with ergo's solely for the last ten years but when I built my Merckx two springs back I purchased a nice set of 'campione' cinelli's. I thought I would try them and see how I got on. I had a few worries thinking I might have got a bit 'soft' after using the ergos and it might take a while to get used to not having the positions defined. How wrong I was, they are the most natural feeling bars I have used and for the first two rides I forgot I was using trad bars, didnt think about bars at all. I have done some distance on them and they feel as fine at the end of a long day as at the beginning. I find it more so now than before but I sometimes feel like my wrist is a bit of an unnatural angle to ride on the mid drop for too long on the ergos, whereas on the trads I dont have that. They are also great for climbing on the drops.
Maybe I just chose a perfect bar for me, but traditional bars seem to be ergonimically better for me than the propossed 'ergonimical' bar

Jamie

_________________Carlsberg don't build Singlespeeds but if they did.......they would probably look just like mine.

I ride Ergo bars on one bike and regular bars on the other, and I tend to ride on the hoods or the tops of the bars, Can't say I notice much differance. They are however different widths. I prefer a narow width on my arround town/Winter/Pub/Shopping bike and widers on the out and out fast ride.

I tried ergo and soon went back to round. Round lets you rest your hands in the "corner" of the bend (if thats not a contradiction of terms). The ergos tend to have a sloping flat section that you rest your hands "on".also I found that with ergos, the sloping bit is further away from the brake levers, so you need a bigger hand. The apex of the curve on round ones are closer to the levers, so allow better reach on descents.

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